Sleep Well

摘要

While managing a hostel for the chronically mentally ill, I realised that a deteriorating sleep pattern was the harbinger of illness in a resident, as discussed in Emma Young's article (21 February, p 34). One year, I was outraged when a consultant psychiatrist prescribed electroconvulsive therapy for an anxious, but otherwise intelligent and gentle, young man. However, after his treatment the man was surprisingly relaxed, and said that the general anaesthetic before the shock treatment gave him the best sleep he'd had in years. I've wondered ever since whether the anaesthetic is responsible for the occasional beneficial effects of this treatment, and if anaesthesia alone could be a treatment to break established patterns of behaviour.